Albert Llovera-Àlex Haro, driving a MD Rallye Team buggy, managed a good result in the always difficult beginning of such a tough event as the Dakar. It is true that the stage, which was more than 800km long, only had 170km where the vehicles were timed. It was the first test for the drivers and according to Albert: It was a very important stage to build some confidence up.
Llovera-Haro finished this first special stage, from Varadero to Sant Nicolas, on the 60th position of the provisional ranking. Their time 1h38’30” was a bit more than 25’ behind the Mini displaying the colours of Qatar and driven by his friend Nasser Al-Attiyah, the first stage winner of the Dakar 2015.
When he arrived at the bivouac, Llovera was happy with the first day of the race, although, being a competitive person, he was thinking about what could have been better: There was a lot of dust on the track, which made it difficult for us - and I guess for our rivals - to overtake slower competitors when we caught up with them. We could have driven faster, but... As I said, get some confidence and solve some minor issues that came up were the main goals of this first day of the competition. As the Andorran driver was saying, the mechanics can always be improved: We will now try to tweak the position of the backet so I can drive more comfortably. What’s more, today we’ve had to change a faulty tire before the beginning of the special and the petrol indicator didn’t work properly. All in all, nothing major. Anyway, we are going to get ready for tomorrow, which I’ve been told is a very demanding day.
The second stage from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan will also take place on Argentinian soil. A total of 625 km, of which the vehicles will be timed for 518 km.
We could say that it will be the first tough day of the Dakar 2015. Before leaving for Buenos Aires, Llovera was told how difficult this stage was mainly because it is very fast and because the track hides many traps. Albert keeps that very much in mind.
Press service.
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